


And Only Then We Fall

by profiterol



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon - Manga, Drabble, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26375047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profiterol/pseuds/profiterol
Summary: Finally, Armin finds Eren in the last corner of the world. Manga spoilers (starting from chapter 130).
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	And Only Then We Fall

**Author's Note:**

> A version of what could (not) happen in future chapters.

Armin still thinks about a ship crossing the ocean, with waters heated by the enemy, and the waves growing until becoming giants. Those giants ate the ship and the ones who navigate in it. 

The titans kept swimming and then walking once they reached land. Now, they do not move anymore, like similar to their old form. They are like a tired old dream. In a way, they have died too many years before being activated again by the devil. 

Annie did not tell him they would meet each other again. She knew the departure was the end for them, for everyone, and the only thing Armin wishes for her is resting in a blue coffin. His eyes are dried of crying. 

He kept walking with the last of his forces. His legs are trembling because he is tired of the travel and the failures of his existence. He fails as a commander, as a soldier, as a friend. But even when he thought he could not walk anymore, he keeps going until the last corner of the world. 

They promised they would travel the world when they were free. They would go to know the ocean, the mountains, the snow, and the deserts. Armin remembers the exact moment of their childhood dream when he seeded the idea in a dangerous mind. 

"We are free," Eren says when they finally meet. 

In front of them, there is devastated land with not color. The life was taken away by the puppeteer's soldiers, and there is no way it can be restored. Maybe, in a thousand years. Perhaps, when all humans perish. Eldia's history will finish with more death and blood, Armin is sure. Eldians do not know any better. 

"No, we aren't," Armin is surprised by the firm tone in his voice. He does not know where he found the will to stand in front of him. 

The devil looks at him with irritated eyes, and rain has fallen in his face. There is blood too, but none of them can see it clearly. It does not matter. Eren carries blood in all him, involving him in a red bath. His eyes are dead despite the emotions they show. 

"We are never going to be free," Armin says, walking towards the devil with decided movement. The fear abandoned his body. He is not afraid of him anymore; the only thing is that there is not hate either. 

Armin cannot hate Eren. He has tried before and now, but it is impossible. Instead, Armin hates himself even more. Because the devil is right there in front of him, looking at him, opening his arms, and with his lips trying to pronounce grief words, and Armin advances with only an idea in the middle of their major lost. 

He hugs Eren, and only then, Eren sheds the tears he has been holding all those years. 

"Let's go home," Eren says, but Armin sees he understands the situation. 

There is no home anymore, just an island where the last of humanity remains. He cannot allow coming back with the devil, celebrating the death of enemies and friends. 

Armin knows what he has to do, but he does not want to. Duty and desire mixed, and his head dispels his rational thoughts—another failure in the list. 

"Let's go," Armin murmurs, holding Eren as he is about to fall. 

Both of them tries to reach the limits of the world with the last effort of their bodies. 

At the beginning of the journey, a cry of despair awakes the room the mother is.


End file.
